"I had a very mixed experience"

While my experience on the labour ward and with community midwives postnatally has been positive, I had a very mixed experience with midwives on the maternity ward. Some were particularly attentive and kind (Katie), others I found particularly cold and uncaring, not keeping me updated on when I was permitted to go home and generally unpleasant and rude.

One midwife I encountered was abrupt and abrasive and didn’t appear to believe me when I said my baby was a slow feeder. They expected me to fill in their feeding report with no pen in the room! I was kept waiting  unexpectedly to be discharged  and with no thought for my emotional wellbeing. I had been in a single hospital room at that point for 4 days and was missing my  2-year-old son who wasn’t allowed to visit, as well as the obvious isolating effect of being in a room on my own while dealing with my own physical and emotional postnatal concerns.

Another midwife I encountered told me that the problem with my baby’s foot was called talipes. At this stage my baby had not been seen by the specialist to diagnose any issue with his foot and hips. I googled this term and believed that my baby had a club foot, a permanent physical issue. This naturally caused me alarm and worry for my child. The following day my baby was seen by the specialist who diagnosed him with positional talipes, a temporary issue which could be treated with exercises at home. This brought immense relief and highlighted the recklessness of an inexperienced midwife in diagnosing a baby with a condition that they were not qualified to properly assess.

I believe this needs to be highlighted to prevent other mothers being put through similar worry by such casual remarks or improper evaluation by an unqualified practitioner. I found a culture of coldness, sharpness and condescension in some of the midwives on the maternity ward, which I would like to see addressed. I don’t think there is proper recognition for the physical and emotional wellbeing of mothers to newborns by certain members of staff based on my own experience. I feel some of the older, and possibly more experienced, midwives could learn from the younger or newer staff such as Katie and Michelle, who had an abundance of empathy and were exactly what I needed to help me with my experience in SWAH. They are a credit to their profession, the same goes for Karen and Fidelma on the Community Midwives team, very professional and reassuring.